Nostalgia
by PoptartGladiator
Summary: *slight spoilers* Caius has been defeated, and yet the world is still in peril. At least, that's what Lightning thinks as she's turning to crystal upon Etro's throne. She wakes up, though, in a peaceful timeline, a true timeline. Everything is back to how it should be, except for one little thing... no one knows who the hell she is. Post XIII-2. Hope x Light.
1. Chapter 1

**Pfft. Ok. This story came from a derpy dream that I had where I was chasing Noel through a field. So. I don't have an editor and I'm just writing for fun. Tell me about any mistakes and, enjoy~**

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Lightning's abdominal muscles contracted as she pulled herself into a sitting position. "Where … am I?" she muttered, brushing the sand grains that clung to her clothing. It seemed she was on a beach. A very familiar beach.

"Oerba? Why am I in Oerba? I was just in… Val… halla…" she asked herself, glancing about her surroundings. Deciding that she wasn't going to figure anything out by sitting around and getting sand in her pants, Lightning stood up and began making her way towards a lush, green field.

And that was when she spotted a very oblivious Noel sitting on a row of rocks next to the ocean. Her eyes lit up dimly in faint excitement at finding a friendly soul to provide her with a few answers.

"Noel!" Light shouted, jogging towards him. He jumped a little and turned towards her, a confused expression enveloping his face.

"Who are you?" he asked, scrunching up his face, as if trying to remember. "You seem familiar,"

Lightning's jogging quickly slowed to a walk, which then slowed to a halt.

"What do you mean 'Who are you?' I met you in Valhalla." she said, crossing her arms in frustration. Noel's expression became one of worried shock.

"W-what do you mean? I was never in Valhalla." Noel stuttered, muscles tensing and eyes darting to and fro.

"Your time-gazing friend sent you as I was battling with Caius," she informed the increasingly-infuriating boy, eye beginning to twitch.

"Caius… oh god, you're one of them! I thought we stopped him a long time ago, but you're back!" Noel shouted, beginning to rise and stagger backwards.

"One of who? What are you talking about, Kreiss? It's me, Lightning. I gave you Mog as a good luck charm and asked you to bring Serah to me," she said, a bit of worry starting to trickle into her words.

"No! You're lying! I've never met you. Mog was a gift from Etro! Get away from here!" he hissed, stumbling over the rocks until reaching the field, where he began his mad dash towards Oerba.

"Noel, WAIT!" Lightning yelled, letting out an exasperated sigh. She quickly jumped over the boulders and began sprinting after him.

For a kid with pants loose enough to trip over, Noel was rather fast, and Lightning was having to put in near-maximum effort just to keep up. To get ahead, she really _did _have to put in maximum-effort.

Slowly but surely, as Noel neared a medium-sized house on the edge of Oerba, Lightning caught up to him. In an attempt to be rid of her, he grabbed her outstretched arm and tried to twist it behind her back before pushing her towards the ground. She used her other hand to spring herself back upwards, using the hand which Noel had grabbed to grasp his hair and push him to the ground. Lightning wasted no time in yanking his flailing towards her and pinning them behind his back as she sat on top of him, using her weight to keep him from escaping.

"Get OFF of me, you monster!" Noel shouted, kicking and thrashing enough to just about uproot Lightning. She whipped out her survival knife, and pressed the cold steel against the back of his head, before he really did throw her off.

"Stop thrashing or I will end your life right here, right now," she growled through clenched teeth, pressing the blade a little bit closer to the base of Noel's neck. It was an empty threat, really. She wouldn't dare harm the one who'd went through so much to bring her sister to her just because of a simple promise. Yet, she needed complete control of the situation in order to extract her answers easily and efficiently, and that required Noel being unable to call her bluff.

It seemed she had filled the statement with just enough venom, as the flailing body beneath her suddenly became limp.

"You win," he growled, "What do you want?"

"I just want a few an-" Lightning began, but was cut off as a thin, unknown object was pushed against the front of her throat. A strange feeling blade, but a potential threat nonetheless. She sighed again, raising her hands above her head and dropping the knife on the ground next to her.

"Didn't even have to give any instructions," a strangely nostalgic, but confused voice said. Before he even had time to react, Lightning spun around and launched herself towards him. Preparing for an attack, he attempted to ready his weapon, but was rendered utterly _un_prepared for what happened next.

"Hope!" the strange woman squeaked, jumping towards him and wrapping her arms around his neck in a tight, breath-stopping hug.

Confused and blushing furiously, said Hope couldn't decide whether this was a trick, and he should push the girl off of him, or whether he should simply enjoy the rare occasion that a member of the opposite sex chose to embrace him. Before he was able to reach a decision, though, it was made for him as Noel ripped the woman from him, leaving him feeling oddly empty and cold.

"Don't touch him!" Noel hissed, coming to stand in between of the slightly miffed Lightning and flushed Hope.

"Ok, I don't know what's going on here, but I'm just as confused as you two are… if not more," Hope said, eyes darting between the two death-glaring each other.

Lightning's angered expression melted into defeat as she put her hands in the sky and said, "There's a gunblade in the holster behind my thighs and another hunting knife tucked in my right boot."

Looking surprised, Noel quickly unclipped the holster and nabbed the knife just under the rim of her tall buckled boots. He gave her a quick and awkward pat-down, avoiding quite a few areas across her body.

"I say… we trust her. There's something strangely familiar about her, though I can't seem to put my finger on it…" Hope muttered, quizzically staring into Lightning's icy cerulean eyes.

She stared right on back, marveling at how much, yet how little Hope had changed in the 10 years that they'd all been gone. He was still the same awkward yet adorable little kid, but held the rough exterior of the man he'd slowly evolved into. His untamed silver hair was even more wild than it had been before, signifying a couple of sleepless nights and disregarded hair care. His light, green eyes still seemed to shine with boyish wonder. He was still the same curious kid as before, albeit more intelligent and, well… handsome. She couldn't deny the obvious growth spurt the kid had had. He was now lean, yet muscular enough to be attractive yet not… Overbearingly gigantic, much like Snow. His face had lost the small amount of chub from when he was just 14, and was that a bit of _stubble _Lightning saw?

Blinking, she pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind as the boy.. no, _man _she'd just been reunited with, discussed her fate with a certain dark-haired cynic who hadn't changed a bit since the last time she'd met him.

"I suppose we _could _bring her in for questioning," Noel agreed, looking back towards the woman who was slowly growing impatient.

"I'd be glad to answer your questions, but my arms are getting tired. Do you think we could sit down and do this?" Lightning muttered, glancing between the two.

Hope nodded and motioned for her to follow him inside the house, Noel falling into step behind her to make sure she didn't throw anyone to the ground again.

Sitting down at a small table in the dining room, Hope motioned for her to sit across from him. Noel leaned against the wall behind her, arms crossed and eyes narrowed.

"Now, can you tell me your name, miss?" Hope asked, speaking in a confident, even tone, as if he'd done this interrogation business before.

"My name is Lightning Farron. Sister of Serah Farron and former Guardian Corps lieutenant." she replied in an equally even tone. She didn't know if Hope had done this kind of thing before, but she knew she had.

"That would explain the uniform and the hair, but still, more questions arise. Can you tell me how you knew my name, and why you hugged me?" he asked, his calm tone faltering just slightly towards the end of his question. Lightning would bet her saber that he'd never interrogated anyone who'd attacked his friend and then proceed to hug him afterwards before. The ghost of a smirk tugged at her lips for merely a second at the amusing though.

"And mine," Noel supplied, eyes locked on the back of Lightning's head.

"Well, to answer this I might as well answer all of your soon-to-come questions at once. So, I'll start at the beginning. You may not believe me, but I'm simply relaying my memories back to you." she said, proceeding to inform them of adventures she, Hope, and their other friends had had as l'Cie, in order to save Cocoon and return Serah and Dajh from crystal stasis. Then she proceeded to tell them how she'd been dragged off of the Pulsian plane by Etro, in order to be the goddess' champion. She told them of how Caius Ballad had been trying to murder the goddess, to bring ultimate, never-ending chaos to the world. Lightning mentioned how one day, Noel had showed up. Falling from the Historia Crux, she'd caught him and asked him to bring her sister, the aforementioned Serah, to her.

She finished her story by telling them of how Caius vanished and she started to turn to crystal once more upon Etro's throne, her last memory being of the world slipping into chaos.

"The first time I disappeared was on the a plane of Pulse, beneath Cocoon's crystal pillar, when Etro changed the timeline and your memories had all been changed to believe that I was trapped in crystal stasis, along with Vanille and Fang within the pillar. It could be that you all managed to restore the timeline to it's true path, but your memories of me were erased in the process. I think that I must have emerged from crystal stasis just a few hours ago, into this timeline where I didn't exist, because it was shifted onto the right track while I was in Valhalla. Being in Valhalla is the equivalent to not existing at all, do you understand what I'm saying?"

Hope began to slowly nod. "It's a lot to take in, but what your saying seems very possible. I guess we should tell you our version of the story. It's basically everything that you said happened, just… without you in it. Though, we managed to save the world from falling into chaos when Noel and Serah turned Caius to crystal and Etro awoke, taking her Heart of Chaos back. Noel was unable to travel back to his time, and so he now stays with us."

"What I'm thinking, though, is that there's a paradox occurring from the effects of the timeline changing so quickly, that's making everyone forget about me. If we can maybe solve the paradox, then the timeline will finally be on the 100% absolute true course," Lightning hypothesized, meeting Hope's jade gaze.

"Alright, then… Lightning. I guess it's time for you to meet the family."


	2. Chapter 2

Hope watched Lightning as she stood beside Noel, waiting for the door in front of them to open. For some reason, this woman made his heart pound and his face heat up. It wasn't often he met new people, especially females, for that matter, but none had elicited such a _strange_ feeling. It was almost like when his assistant at the Academy clung to him, but instead of annoyed feelings, these feelings were… pleasant. Welcome feelings.

There's was also an odd sense of déjà vu whenever he looked upon her. A tranquil, safe kind of feeling settled down within him when he was near her. It was odd, and he thought maybe it had something to do with how in the past, they'd been friends. Not that he remembered those times, if they even existed. Suddenly, though, he desperately wished that the tale spun by Lightning was true. All of these feelings rushing into his mind all at once confused him, and he decided to push them away to the back of his mind until he had time to assess them all in a calm environment where no one would disturb him.

The door opened suddenly, and a large, bleach-blonde-haired man had to bend to step out of his front door.

"Hey guys!" Snow greeted them, grasping Hope's hand in a manly handshake and giving Noel a hearty slap on the back, causing an 'oof!' to be released from the brunette's mouth. Snow went to do the same with the third person, but stopped when he realized that it was an unknown person. And a female, at that. He instead opted for sticking his hand out in front of her to offer a handshake.

"I don't think I've seen you around here before, and it's hard to forget a face when the population here is so low! You look oddly familiar, though. Have I met you before?" the giant said, finishing the handshake between them and narrowing his eyes at her familiar features. "You look a lot like my fiancé!"

Hope could swear he saw a smirk pass over Lightning's lips before she addressed Snow.

"Name's Lightning Farron. Before you ask, I'm Serah's sister. She just… doesn't know it, yet." she replied, crossing her arms. Hope sighed at her blunt introduction. He knew it'd only confuse Snow more.

True to his expectations, Snow's expression became that of utter confusion. Questions gushed forth in a desperate attempt to understand what the woman in front of him was saying.

"Let's go inside, and we'll explain in there," Hope interrupted, grabbing Snow and attempting to turn the large man around. Of course, he failed, but Snow managed to shut his mouth and head inside of the house of his own free will.

Snow fell onto the couch and called out for Serah to come downstairs. When the telltale footsteps were heard lightly padding down the stairs, Lightning, despite herself, started walking to meet the pink-haired girl she knew she'd find at the bottom of the steps.

When Serah turned the corner to enter the living room, she nearly ran into a woman who looked very much like an older, tougher _her. _"Serah…" the woman whispered, a look of joy flashing across her face for a moment, but quickly changing into a devastated expression.

"Oh, I… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to run into you, I just…" she trailed off. Serah merely stared, mouth agape, at the woman with nearly identical hair to hers. _Why does she know my name? Why does she look so upset?_ Serah wondered.

Hope stepped next to them and gently grasped both of their shoulders, guiding them towards the couch. When they both sat down, Serah resumed her staring. Hope and Noel then launched into an explanation of who the eerily-familiar woman was, why she was there, etc. Serah was forced to shift her attention to the two men, occasionally glancing towards the girl, called Lightning.

When their explanation ended, Serah was too shocked to speak. Snow did for her, though.

"Ha! So that would mean you're my sister! Ain't that right, _sis?_" Snow joked, nudging Lightning with his elbow. This, in return, earned him a glare.

"Don't call me that," Lightning growled out of habit. Her gaze then softened a bit and she muttered a quick, "Sorry, I guess you're right."

What happened next confused everyone.

Snow's hands shot up towards his head. He gripped the area around his temples, and his head fell between his knees as he grunted slightly with pain. Serah immediately stood up and ran over to him, checking him over and wondering what was wrong. She ran into the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water, which he downed gratefully. Finally, he seemed to calm down.

"Why do I feel like you've said that to me before? Why do I _know _that you've said it to me before!? More than that, why does it feel so nostalgic when you say it?! Agh! I'm so confused! I just had a rush of memories that aren't mine of you saying that!" Snow shouted towards Lightning, demanding answers.

"That's because you used to say the same thing to me all the time when we were trying to save Serah. You'd call me sis, and I'd respond the way I did just now. Sorry about that, I said it out of habit." Lightning supplied, giving Snow a half-apologetic look.

"Strange…" Hope muttered "It seems that certain things you say, or even do, will elicit a reaction that makes people remember you. Perhaps if you tried something you did more often, or something that made you and say, Snow, connect on a personal level, he'll begin to remember."

Lightning nodded slowly, taking it all in. "Sounds like a plan," she said with a thumbs up in Hope's direction. Suddenly, the one who'd been more or less quiet throughout this whole ordeal spoke.

"Lightning, huh… Etro's Champion." Noel said, nodding. "It's hazy, but I've got a memory of you catching me from the sky of Valhalla and then… oh, damn it, I don't know, it hurts to think about it." he waved his hand around as if to dismiss the memory that muddled his thoughts.

"Well, sounds like we're getting somewhere, eh, Noel?" Snow asked clapping said boy on his back for the second time that day. Noel sighed and rubbed his shoulder in response.

"Say… _Lightning._ Is your real name… Claire?" Serah said, eyes clouding with attempted recall of memory. "Sorry for assuming but… the name just came to me, all of the sudden." she muttered, scratching the area behind her ear.

"Wow. No, you're right. My real name is Claire." Lightning responded, a look of genuine shock on her face.

Snow and Hope's eyes grew bright with recognition. "Claire… Yeah! Claire!" Hope exclaimed, grinning. "This is such a weird feeling. It's as if I knew you in a past life."

Lightning half-grinned in return. Noel began walking towards the door, saying that they needed to now find Fang, Vanille, and Sazh, and to explain the situation to them. One by one the exited the small house, Lightning glancing backwards at Serah and waving for a moment, before she turned her head and brusquely stomped outside.

When the door closed, Serah leaned back on the couch and regarded Snow with wide eyes.

"I suddenly feel as if we don't have to wait to have the wedding anymore," Serah muttered, blinking once.

"You took the words right outta my mouth, babe," Snow replied, his head flopping backwards as a sigh was released from his lips.

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**asdfgasdfsadf as I release more chapters I get more and more nervous about this story. My friends tell me it's ok but I just feel like it's so derpy. xD Anyways, if you made it this far, I hope you've enjoyed it so far. Don't forget to leave a review to tell me what you think :3 Thanks.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello peoples. Someone mentioned about my characters being a little OOC, especially Lightning. I'm sorry if this happens, but I just think that if you were stuck in a world with no life, time, or death, you could only see your loved ones from afar, they all thought that you were dead, and then you finally return, and they don't remember you? You'd be pretty devestated, and pretty ecstatic when you were remembered. I also understand, that Lightning isn't like everyone else, so I'll tone down the "emotions" a bit. I don't know, I guess Lightning's possible reactions in "XIII-3" are open to interpretation.**

**Anyways, this same person mentioned that my stories were a little rushed and less detailed. At first, I was like, "whaaaaaaaaaaat?" but upon uploading this chapter and finding that it was, I kid you not, _924 words, _I was pretty disappointed in myself. I recently wrote a quick oneshot that ended up being about 3,000 words so I was pretty happy with myself there.**

**Sorry, this was a long AN. No, I didn't just write it for more words, I promise, I tried to fix and add to this chapter. Make sure to tell me if I should be fixing it even more xD;**

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The trio walked onwards towards the center of Oerba. Lightning stared at her hands as they walked, clenching and un-clenching them, removing the glove and tracing the lines upon her palm.

These hands; the hands that had protected Hope, sheltered him. The hands that had tightly, secretly gripped the back of his orange poncho in an unexpected hug, when he was just 14.

Hands that had caught Noel from falling to his death, had taken care of a Serah, even _slapped _Fang and _punched _Snow... on multiple occasions. And none of them could even remember the hands that did those things, all that time ago. The situation she was in was a little depressing, but she'd choose it a million times over the timeline she thought she'd been stuck in. And there was still hope yet, pun very much intended.

She couldn't help but worry, though. What if they never truly remembered her? Well... she ignored that possibility. She still had her memories

A familiar accented voice broke through the silence, and Lightnings reverie.

"Hey, guys!" Vanille shouted, running, or rather, skipping forward to meet them, a taller woman with a blue sash tied around her body following at a measured pace, arms crossed and lance sticking up from behind her shoulder.

"Who are you?" Vanille asked curiously when she slowed in front of Lightning. She leaned forward, inspecting Lightning, hands interlocked and stretched out behind her back.

"Name's Lightning," said woman replied, nodding towards Vanille. She couldn't help the small smile that begged to show on her face as she was elated to see that Fang and Vanille had woken from their crystal nap within Cocoon's pillar.

"Oh! Hello then, Lightning! My name is Vanille. What brings you to our quaint little village?" the orange-haired girl questioned, head tilting slightly to the side. She smiled a pleasant smile. Noel stepped forward, raising his hands for a usual Noel-gesture.

"Ah, that's a long story. We'd better find Sazh first." he said, beginning to walk past the two. "Do you happen to know where he is?"

"Yeah, workin' on 'is plane down the block." an equally heavily accented voice supplied. Fang smirked and jerked a thumb over her shoulder to emphasize the direction that Sazh was in. She eyed Lightning suspiciously, and unable to unnerve her with a glare, the brunette shrugged and turned on her heel.

They all began to walk towards Sazh's garage, passing a few miscellaneous people as they walked. It seemed that people had come to live in Oerba, just not very many. More than Lightning had thought, though. There were still cracks in the street and overgrown trees and plants everywhere. Some houses were still rather run down, but many had been fixed up since the last time she'd been there.

When they arrived, they first saw an older, lankier Dajh sitting on top of the plane talking to… himself? The boy then turned and shouted, "Dad! Your friends are here!" before jumping down. Sazh stumbled out from behind the plane covered in grime and waved, smiling.

"Hey guys! What're yah doin' here?" he asked, looking at each one of them. When his eyes landed on Lightning, they narrowed and he reached up to scratch his head. Lightning let out an inaudible laugh; if anything, his afro had only grown larger and bushier. She suspected there wasn't a chocobo residing within it anymore, and after a quick inspection of the property, found a fenced area around the back and side of the house.

"What's your name? Never seen you 'round here before," he said, walking forward to introduce himself.

Before either Noel, Lightning, or Hope could begin with the repetitive introduction, Dajh walked forward and gave his father a weird look.

"Dad, what are you talkin' about? Did you hit your head? It's Lightning!" he said, moving his finger in a circle next to his temple in an attempt to insinuate that his father was crazy.

"He remembers!" Noel shouted, a finger shooting out towards the boy. Sazh just looked between them with a very confused look.

"I'm startin' to think that _I'm _not the one going crazy here. Sorry, miss, you do seem familiar, but I just don't think I've met you before." Sazh said with a shrug of his shoulders. Ignoring his father, Dajh continued.

"Yeah, Lightning is Serah's sister. She was there when Serah and I found you guys. But then she was gone…" Dajh muttered, rubbing the back of his head. He seemed slightly confused, as if his memories of her were muddled. "Sorry, I don't remember much about you. I only ever knew you for a little while."

Hope went ahead and explained the situation to Sazh and Dajh. Sazh seemed to be in slight disbelief by the end of their tale, but didn't say anything.

"Well that's weird, I can remember Lightning just fine, though I only knew her for about 20 minutes." Dajh interjected, crossing his arms in confusion.

"My new theory, since you remember her, Dajh, is that the people who were closest to her are going to have the hardest time remembering her. Since Dajh was never that close with Lightning, but he still remembers her, and from what I gather, Noel wasn't all that close with her either, and he's got some hazy memories of her as well." Hope said, scratching his chin. He began muttering to himself, and pacing slowly. Lightning looked towards Noel and raised her eyebrow. "Does he always do this?"

"Well, yeah, I mean, he _is _the Director of an elite scientific expedition group…" Noel said, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes. Lightning looked back at him in shock.

"What...? When did that happen? I knew he was in the Academy, but… the _Director_?" she muttered, her hand flying up to rest above her heart, the area where he brand had been, out of habit. "I've missed… so much. Tell me, are Snow and Serah married yet?" she asked Noel with slight, very uncharacteristic worry in her voice.

"No, no. You heard him, he said 'fiancé' earlier, not wife. Don't worry, they don't even have a date for the wedding yet." Noel said, attempting to placate the female. He raised both of his hands, palms facing Lightning, in front of him, a universal sign for 'stop'.

Lightning's hand clenched into a fist, and she grimaced a bit. She had missed so much, and yet, here she was, back with her loved ones again, and none of them could even remember who the _hell_ she was. She could feel the familiar clenching in her chest and stinging in her eyes that she had trained so hard to be able to suppress. She also felt angry; at herself, at Caius. She should have been able to beat him quicker. _He _was the reason she'd been written out of history in the first place. Taking a deep breath, she unclenched her hands and let it out through her nose.

She closed her eyes and repeated the previous action in an attempt to calm down. It didn't matter, she was back now. Everyone was safe, and healthy, and she was _there_, with them... finally. She would _make them remember._

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**Please leave a review and tell me how I can improve more. I already have some of the chapters written, and I received that review mentioned earlier after this was written, and since I didn't want to rewrite it, I just edited it a bit to make Lightning more... Lightning-ish. Well now I'm rambling so. Yeah. Hope you liked it X3**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hurrrrrrr here it is. I know it's not that good but enjoy, if you can x'D**

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By the time Lightning, Hope, and Noel had said goodbye to Fang, Vanille, Sazh, and Dajh, the sun was setting.

"Ugh, I just realized we don't know where Lightning is staying," Noel muttered, rubbing the back of his head. "I'd let you stay with my but I'm already boarded up with Fang and Vanille, and the houses here aren't _that _big. Serah and Snow might feel awkward, same with Sazh… The town doesn't have an inn or anything yet either… Hope? Do you think, maybe…?"

Hope sighed, glancing at Lightning as his face heated up slightly. He turned his head the other way so neither she nor Noel would notice.

"Um, yes, I suppose I could. I live alone, anyways." the silver-haired man muttered, wringing his hands. "Some company could be nice…"

Lightning smiled and laid a hand on Hope's shoulder. "Thanks, that means a lot," she said, giving him a rare smile that, years ago, had been reserved for him alone. Something clicked in his brain, and his mind began to spin. He gripped Lightning's arm to keep him from falling, and when he regained his sense of balance, he found himself smiling a huge, sincere smile that lit up his face.

"Light…" he muttered, recalling the time when he was told to call her that. He couldn't stop smiling at the warm, insanely amazing feeling that came with that memory. It had been hidden, he knew, but now that it had been uncovered from the fog of his mind, he couldn't be happier.

Lightning stared at Hope, wondering if he'd remembered something.

She held him up until he began to shake his head. She realized his smile was now fading. He began to shake his head back and forth, as if to clear his head.

"Sorry… I just… I remembered you! It was a short memory but… It's just so… nostalgic." Hope muttered, staring at Lightning, yet through her at the same time, as if his mind was off in another dimension. Suddenly, he focused on her, grinning once more.

Soon enough, though, he realized that they were gripping each other's arms, and flung his hands into the air, backing away from Lightning. It reminded Noel much of the time he had grabbed Serah's hands, happy to see her, and then done the same backing up thing, except this time it seemed a little bit more hasty and nervous.

"Oh! S-Sorry about that. I just… um… thank you." Hope said, rubbing his left shoulder awkwardly. Lightning wasn't really sure about what she was being thanked for, but as she turned away from Hope, she let a small, triumphant grin cross her face. Just as quick as it came, it was gone. She waved dismissively over her shoulder towards the red-faced silver-haired man behind her and glanced towards Noel.

"Where to now?" she asked, taking another look around the village.

"Well, I don't know about you two, but I'm going home," Noel replied, stretching both arms over his head. "Hope, I trust you can find your own way home. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Hope nodded and turned the other way, waving to Noel. "My house is down this way," he said, pointing down a quiet-looking street.

Though the sun had just set, none of the houses had lights on and they all seemed pretty run-down, except for one. It looked like it had been fixed up a bit, but was still in a condition similar of the other houses.

Hope turned towards that house, and began opening the door without even unlocking it.

"It's better on the inside, I promise," he muttered nervously, fumbling with the rusted knob.

"Don't you lock your house?" Lightning asked curiously. Back on Cocoon, you'd have to lock up your house or else you'd better prepare to say 'goodbye' to a few valuables.

"Eh, not really. There aren't many people here, and we all know each other. Besides, I live on a secluded section of the street, and I don't have much stuff in this house," Hope replied, shrugging. He pushed the door open and held it open for Light.

"Ladies first?" he said, half-grinning. Lightning let out an inaudible chuckle and walked inside. Hope followed and flipped the light switch, the room becoming instantly brighter.

Hope hadn't been lying when he said there wasn't much furniture. In the living room, there was only a decent-sized TV and a couch. There were plenty of pictures hanging on the walls, though, as Lightning remembered Hope to be a sentimental person. With a twinge of sadness, she realized she wasn't in any of them.

She followed him into the hallway, though at a distance, wondering what she was supposed to do and where he was going. He came to a stop in front of one of the few doors in the empty hallway, proceeding to open it and gesture inside.

"This is the only bed I have, so you can sleep here,"

"Wait, Hope, your only bed? This is your bedroom. There's no way I'm kicking you out of your own room. If anything should be private, it's that," Light replied. Just the thought of sleeping in someone else's bed mortified her, and the fact that it was a now grown Hope's bed didn't help quell the acrobatics her stomach was performing.

It must have been showing on her face, for he replied, "It's ok, I'll change the sheets and give you a different blanket."

"No, no. That's …not _really _the point," she said hastily, "as much as it is that I'm more or less a total stranger to you right now, and you shouldn't have to give up your bed to me."

Lightning crossed her arms and looked at him with a stern gaze. "I'd much prefer the couch," she said evenly, arms crossed.

"But-"

"No."

"Lightni-""Nope.""Light plea-""I said _no, _damn it." she spat, raising her hand to slap the now-frightened man. Her angered eyes quickly dissolved into … fear? Regret? Hope saw a mix of emotions pass through her icicle blue eyes as she lowered her hand. He stared at the woman in simple shock. This kind of reaction to him was not a familiar one.

"_Shit. _Hope, Hope, I'm really sorry," Light mumbled. She reached towards him as if to grab his shoulder, but thought better of it as her hand slowly inched back towards her chest. Hope continued to stare as she turned away wither another "sorry".

Suddenly an arm was thrown around her shoulders, and a hearty laugh sounded in her left ear. She turned quickly to find Hope, out of breath with laughter.

"Are you serious? It's not like you were about to _kill _me! Besides, it's my fault since I tested your patience after you made a definite decision. I was just being annoying at that point. If you really want to you can sleep on the couch, I was just trying to be courteous. Don't worry about it," he said between fits of laughter.

It was Lightning's turn to stare. Finally, she grinned and shrugged herself out from underneath Hope's heavy arm.

"Just get a blanket," she said, rolling her eyes as she walked towards the couch.

* * *

Screaming. That was what Hope heard as he bolted upright in his bed. He glanced at the clock.

'_2:06 am… was I just … dreaming…?' _Hope thought, laying back down. Before his tousled silver hair could even brush the comfortable pillow beneath him, though, another angry, yet frightened, shriek was heard. He definitely didn't imagine that.

As Hope flung himself from the bed, a loud _thump _was heard. A few crashes followed. He raced down the hallway and into the living room to find a thrashing, screaming mass on the floor. He realized that the couch was vacated, and realized that it must be Lightning on the floor. If she'd fallen from the couch, that would have caused the loud noise, which in turn caused a few pictures to fall. There was a bit of glass one the floor, and Hope attempted to avoid those areas.

He grabbed the blanket that Lightning was entangled with, and then proceeded to grab her wrists, pinning her arms down.

'_Damn, she's strong,_' he thought, gritting his teeth in concentration. He could see muscles across her body contracting intensely in a vain attempt to escape.

Or, maybe it wasn't such a vain attempt, as soon the woman lurched towards him, throwing him onto his back. Her hand deftly found his throat and her dilated blue eyes were inches from his own. She pushed herself backwards, though, in order to put more of her weight onto his neck.

"Caius!" she screamed in anger, fingers clenching tighter around his scrawny neck. Hope gasped for air, and gently laid a hand on Lightning's.

"Light, get off me," he begged, neck muscles tightening. Like earlier, the murderous rage in her eyes dissolved into nothing. Her hand loosened, and she simply gazed into his own emerald eyes for a moment, before her chest felt tight and she muttered, "Hope?"

Without really realizing what happened, Lightning's unconscious body was laying on him, her bangs sprawled across one side of his face.

Hope lifted her up and gently set her against the side of the couch. Her head lolled to the side, and he slid his arms underneath her, carrying her bridal style. His face lit up as if on fire, as he tried to think about other things than the fact that she was wearing much less than when she arrived. Her jacket had been shed to leave a belly shirt, and a pair of shorts that she wore under her skirt. He set her down gently on the couch. She was also really, _really _light. His heart raced as he looked her over. She was very fragile-looking while passed out, though her knew better than to underestimate her. Snapping his head to the side, he chastised himself for thinking about Light like this. He was sure she wouldn't appreciate it if she knew, and that meant he shouldn't be doing it at all.

Fumbling, Hope threw the blanket over her and began to turn, glancing back at Lightningt. She rolled over, and mumbled something quietly. A sharp dizziness shot through his head for a moment, and he thought this scene to be somehow familiar.

He remembered… watching someone sleep. A warm, protective feeling passed over him as he looked back at Lightning, eyes widening. He didn't really know what to think of this odd memory. Perhaps it was of Light. All he knew for sure, at that moment, was that it took a lot of willpower to walk his reluctant body back into his bedroom to get some sleep.

Sleep, though, was something unreachable, it seemed. The two warm memories swirled through his head all night, and he wondered if Lightning really was telling the truth.

Deep down, he hoped she was.

* * *

**uuuuh yeah. Sorry I took so long uploading this ;_; I need more inspiration; I'm getting a bit of writer's block. I was also a bit afraid to upload this, too. But, hey, I write to get my shipping feels out and because it's fun. If you choose to enjoy my work then, all the better for you. Thanks for reading this far, though c:**


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